Tanning alert as skin cancer cases in UK double

The most deadly form of skin cancer is affecting more than twice as many people as 20 years ago, official figures show.

Experts say cheap foreign holidays, sunbeds and a reluctance to wear sunscreen have caused cases of malignant melanoma to soar.

Some 9,417 victims in England were diagnosed with the cancer between 1985 and 1987.

Britons taking cheap holidays abroad is one the reasons experts are claiming is behind a massive jump in skin cancer cases in the UK

But by 2004-06, the figure had risen to 24,356.

The number of deaths also rocketed from 2,868 to 4,485, according to the South West Public Health Observatory.

The NHS-funded group's skin cancer map of England, launched on the Skin Cancer Hub website yesterday, shows that rates of malignant melanoma have almost trebled in the North West and Yorkshire and Humber regions.

The South West has the highest incidence of the disease and the highest death rate. The South East has the second-highest rate, and the North is catching up.

Malignant melanoma has become the most common cancer in women in their 20s.

Dr Julia Verne, director of the SWPHO, said binge-tanning at home and abroad was to blame.

This map reveals the alarming increase in new melanoma cases in Britain

'We know that the South West has got more hours of sunshine, beautiful countryside and lots of beaches,' she said.

'In the South West, we have got a higher proportion of people with very fair skin, blue eyes and fair hair, or red hair and freckles.

'People with fair skin really want to protect themselves from burning, because they are at highest risk of developing malignant melanoma.'

She added that northerners make up for a lack of sun by using sunbeds more often.

'The alarming thing is the use of sunbeds by people who are very, very fair skinned,' she said.

'They are never going to go brown and their skin is exquisitely sensitive and they are storing up big risks for later in life.'

Experts warn sub beds are also to blame for the rise in new skin cancer cases

Cases of Melanoma have soared from 9,417 in 1985-87 to 24,356

The Vale of White Horse, the Oxfordshire district which includes the town of Abingdon, has the highest rate of malignant melanoma in the country.

With almost 30 cases per 100,000 people, it is six times higher than the London borough of Newham, which is bottom of the table.

Sara Hiom, of Cancer Research UK, said the rise showed that more needed to be done to educate the public about the dangers of the disease.

'The main cause of skin cancer is over-exposure to harmful ultra violet-radiation from the sun or sunbeds,' she said.

Professor Mike Richards, the Government's cancer tsar, said that prevention and early diagnosis were key. 'It is important that those providing health services have access to the best information about who is at risk so that resources can be targeted effectively,' he added. 'The Skin Cancer Profiles are an excellent start in that direction.'

'I will never use a sunbed again'

From the age of 16, Jenna Gurney visited a tanning salon twice a week.

Regular holidays in the sun helped ensure she always sported a 'healthy glow'.

But at 21 she noticed that a large, flat mole on her stomach had grown and become flaky.

Jenna Gurney was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma aged 21

Bowel cancer rises among under 30s

Bowel cancer in the under-30s is on the rise - and it could be because they are gorging on fast food, experts claim.

The number of people in their 20s diagnosed with the disease has risen by more than 5 per cent in the past 13 years, figures show.

Medics blame the 'fast food culture' and a lack of screening for the under-50s. Obesity and poor diet is a major risk factor for bowel cancer.

There was a 1.5 per cent rise in the number of under-50s with the disease, but overall rates are dropping, the American Cancer Society said.

She was diagnosed with malignant melanoma and had the mole removed, as well as the skin surrounding it and the lymph nodes under her arm.

Today, at 28, she still has regular check-ups and is as zealous in her determination to protect herself against the sun as she once was to get a tan.

Miss Gurney, an administrator from Loughton in Essex, said: 'If I could go back and have my time again, I would never use sunbeds.

'I wouldn't want to go through the stress and worry of having cancer for the sake of a tan.

'I've always liked the look of a healthy glow, but I am now really careful in the sun and religiously apply sun lotion.

'I hope my story will make others aware of the risks of melanoma from using sunbeds.'

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Alarm as skin cancer cases DOUBLE in the UK as fatalities soar in wake of cheap sun holidays abroad